WHATEVER else Robert North may or may not have done for Scottish Ballet in his brief tenure as artistic director, he gave them The Snowman. The dance version of the much-loved Raymond Briggs story and Howard Blake’s attendant music, which North first developed as a one-act piece when he was in Sweden almost ten years ago, was an instant hit when he premiered an extended version in Scotland last year. It was balm to the beleaguered box office and the shaky company morale and this year it looks set to do exactly the same thing, with most seats already sold.

SMOKE billows from the chimney, snow falls gently from the sky, and a collective "oooh" rises from the audience - ten seconds in, and already this magical show has them hooked. Children are notoriously easy to please, but equally easy to lose - something former artistic director Robert North was acutely aware of when he created this wonderful show. There’s barely a whiff of what could genuinely be termed "ballet" in the first act, and when it finally shows its face in act two it’s performed by dancing reindeers, spinning tops and a snow queen.

Christmas would not be Christmas without this seasonal adaptation of Raymond Briggs' work with music and lyrics by Howard Blake. It is familiar to audiences old and young and equally popular with both.

Louis Dunford makes an excellant boy - a part played on other nights by Alexander Rose and Thomas Runeckles - but it is Paul Clarke in the title role who steals the show.

Many scenes from the original cartoon are reproduced here - including the truly spectacular flying scene performed to Walking in the Air, sung here by Susan Monnox - but there are also additions. Among the most entertaining of these are the dancing fruits that emerge from the fridge in the boy's *******.

MEMORABLE characters, clever comic moments and magical music all combine to make The Snowman a perfect festive entertainment, one that will stay in the memory for many Christmases to come.

Scottish Ballet’s production captures the simplicity and naiveté of the animated film and script-free ballet is arguably the purest, most unadulterated form to give Raymond Briggs’ original wordless book its third dimension.

"BALLET? Isn’t that little girls in pink tutus?" asks my five-year-old son. "Little boys, aren’t they rats and snails and puppy dogs’ tails?" I reply. "No", he says, his face a study in indignation. Time for some ballet lessons I think.

And what better than Scottish Ballet’s The Snowman, back for a second Christmas season after 2001’s phenomenal success. The company is on to a winner with all ages in the ballet of Raymond Briggs’ snowman who comes to life, whisking a little boy off on a magical flight through the winter wonderland of his dreams. You would have to be a real Ebenezer Scrooge to find fault with this child-pleaser and I was content to join the rest of the young at heart, caught up in The Snowman’s spell. If I do have one complaint, it’s that it was all over way too soon.

A child's festive flight of fancy A song that came to its composer as he walked on a beach in Cornwall gives wings to The Snowman By Charlotte Cripps for The Independent

"The song is fairly engraved in my head, that's for sure," says Howard Blake. He's talking about "Walking in the Air", his signature song for the stage adaptation of Raymond Briggs's beautifully illustrated children's tale The Snowman. In 1985, the song became a Top 10 hit for the choirboy Aled Jones and has been unavoidable around Christmas time ever since.

This classic tale is brought to life onstage in a captivating, delightful adventure. The wonderful array of colourful characters, from the little drummer boy in the playroom to chilling Jack Frost in the wood.

BACK in the West End for its sixth Christmas, this dance-theatre version of Raymond Briggs’s enchanting tale of a boy and his magical frozen friend shows no signs of losing its appeal. Full of wit and warmth, Bill Alexander’s Birmingham Rep production tells the story with captivating clarity and without a single spoken word. It’s wonderful to see hundreds of sophisticated modern children, accustomed to the unchallenging naturalism of film and television, become completely gripped by this imaginative and charming show.

Just like your nan’s Christmas pudding, Birmingham Rep’s Snowman follows a tried and trusted recipe for success that blends all the right ingredients for rich reward.

For someone who has always found Raymond Briggs’ silent animation a little unappetising, there is no doubting its enduring enchantment and it is slowly but surely taking its place in the Christmas canon alongside such classics as A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life.

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